Child would like unsuitable game for christmas HELP!

MackemPunk

Problems arise because people treat games as toys, they are not, they are media entertainment products the same as movies. Would you let you kid watch Apocalypse now or Saving private Ryan? then why let him play a game based on the same environment.

thorsoak

Just say no - you're not old enough!

onetomany

if my son whos 14 asked for it (he hasent) i would have to say no because of his 8 year ol brother (if he was a only child i would probley say yes) i let him watch 18 films and play some 15 games depending on the games , but i dont with his brother because the 8 year old is totally diffrent and hasnt got the maturitey to relise its a game i think sometimes it depends on the child but i wouldnt let the 14 year old have it at 8 thats far to young , im a bit of a hiprocrip both my boys wanted toys guns/ starwars lightsavers etc and wasnt allowed ,

suited-aces

jd87 wrote: »

It depends on what he's used to and what other games he's already got / already played at friends' houses. Like you say, the 18 is there for a reason.

Basically in this game there's a lot of blood and gore, you can shoot the enemy and then go up and look at where half their head has been blown off. This might sound bad but he's probably already playing games with the same type of thing.

Also in my opinion this kind of blood and gore isn't as bad as the rape and drugs related storylines you get in games like grand theft auto.

onlyroz

strawberry_laces wrote: »

Right i'm going against the grain here

Its a game.
Its fantasy
games have evolved since we played pacman
Its not real

I have bought this for my 13 year old for Christmas, I also have a 10 year old and he will want to play it too.

I have no problem with them playing it. They have all the COD games. They are well adjusted and good kids, and yes WE DO CARE VERY MUCH about our children.

I am fairly confident they wont want to go and blow the heads off of people in the street.

We limit the time they play on the Xbox and all other consoles they have. If I were to say to them 'you know this is only a game right?' they'd look at me like i'm mad, of course they know its not real !

If you were actually talking about a fantasy game here then I'd have more sympathy for your argument - but we're not talking about killing fantasy monsters here. We're talking about killing real people. I'd certainly not let anyone under the age of around 15 play a game like this.

suited-aces

onlyroz wrote: »

If you were actually talking about a fantasy game here then I'd have more sympathy for your argument - but we're not talking about killing fantasy monsters here. We're talking about killing real people. I'd certainly not let anyone under the age of around 15 play a game like this.

:rotfl: erm...

onlyroz

suited-aces wrote: »

:rotfl: erm...

You seem to have missed my point...

meritaten

I certainly wouldnt let an 8 year play an 18 rated game! what on earth do some of you people think the ratings are for? the games are EVALUATED on the kind of impact they have on different age groups and believe me, it isnt done for fun or to be a killjoy! you may think your 8, 12, 14 or 16 year old is emotionally mature enough to realise that 'its just a game', but I suggest you go talk to some anti bullying charities, or take a trip around an adolescent mental health unit to see the harm these games can do to vulnerable minds!

Jacks_xxx

cheepskate wrote: »

I let my child play these games.
Games on their own dont lead to " gun killing crazy adults" as a lot of you would like to think.
These "studies", I could do a study and make these results fit into whatever I want.

If this was, then we would be able to identify "crazy" people from just their computer habits We cant so out goes the theory. Prior to the games, it was being allowed to watch horror movies, before that it would have been something else.

My son plays these, in the living room, not stuck somewhere in his bedroom to give me peace. He talks to me about them and knows they are unreal.

My son is totally non-aggressive, never hits, even when hit doesnt like bullying or bossing people about etc .
It was strange as at his school when he was into playing guns big time(brother had just joined the forces and hewas just at that age) i can remember a parent basically saying he would turn into a hunningford(sp) ,no she wasnt joking.
The funny bit was she said she didnt allow her child guns, anything violent etc but out of my sons year he was extremely violent to other children, constantly bullied/punched other children,had been the same at his previous school, of course she thought he was an angel and always said he was provoked.... strange how people think of others. You have to really wonder where he was seeing this behaviour:)

As for all this "bad parent" "chav" if you let your children play these games. What a load of twaddle, this is said by people who think by saying this it makes them better than someone else by putting them down

I am a very good parent, and let them play games. There are loads of parents i know who refuse them to play certain things and they have big problems, cos they listen to everyone/everything and try and be so politically(is that the right word im looking for ) correct, to the detriment of their child.

If everything else is right in a childs life , these games would have no effect, its when there is massive problems that the tie in can be done to games+crazy, but that is just bad parenting .

Op it is your child, you do what you feel is right for you and your children. We are all different and take different approaches to life,

kafkathecat wrote: »

Thank you cheepskate for saying what it would have taken me all day to write. In my ds's social circle too the more aggressive children tend to be the ones without games systems. For some reason among the boys and teens that I know, the sweeter the child the nastier the games they like to play. I don't claim to understand that.

When people discover that they have had a serial killer living next door they never say "He was really aggressive and nasty" they almost always say "He seemed so quiet and normal".

I'm not saying that these games create serial killers.

I'm saying that we can't know what goes on in people's heads.

It's not as simple as "monkey see - monkey do".

The psychological effects of killing people for fun day after day are not yet known.

Our limbic system thinks the games are real that's why they get our heart racing and our adrenaline pumping.

barbiedoll wrote: »

He is now 13 and bought COD with his pocket money himself.

I don't think the shop should have sold it to him.

cheepskate_2

It wasnt that long ago, before computer gameswere here, that it was "horror movies" that would corrupt and make our kids turn into crazy , throat ripping lunatics.

What happened to that study? Am i right in thinking that the world hasnt been taken over by these bad parented kids.

As for the (QUOTE) but I suggest you go talk to some anti bullying charities, or take a trip around an adolescent mental health unit to see the harm these games can do to vulnerable minds! . Bullying is done by children that dont get parented correctly by their parents, nothing at all to do with games . As for the mental health, that is something completely different, as i'm assuming the O.Ps son doesnt have mental health probs at the moment , but according to some will have if he ever gets a look at this game:)

As with kafkathecat , my son is the same and is saddened by things that go on in this world

Some subjects can be very emotive for some people and that is fine, but what i object to is to say a person is a bad parent if they dont do as i beleive, its not really putting forward a constuctive argument .